Why I Hate Winemaking

[cmason1957]

Might be a flawed idea. I know it is around my house. We make about 50 gallons of wine per year (more or less) that about 250 bottles and for some crazy reason every time we go to Costco, Total Wine, Dogwood Wine and Spirits (large store near my house) we end up with 5 or 6 more bottles that look good, sound good, the wine guy says you gotta try this (since he knows us by name). I don't save nothing and probably spend more now on wine than I did before I started making wine.

But the having a dedicated wine area with sink, kept at nearly constant temp is money well spent. Just don't ask me (and certainly not my wife) how much.

 

[vinny]

Chuck ... convince your wife of this math: $10,000 basement renovation could pay for itself in wine savings. A $10,000 basement renovation could have bought 500 bottles of wine at $20 per bottle, however if you produce your own wine for $5 per bottle the cost is $2,500.00 for 500 bottles. You have saved $7,500.00 on 500 bottles of wine. How fast can you drink 500 bottles of wine? Drinking 4 bottles per week average you could drink 500 bottles in 29-30 months which might not be hard to do between your significant other and friends. I've been known to drink a bottle of raspberry or blackberry by myself.

Now I'm not to sure how accurate my math is because college was the hardest two months of my life. You will need to look confident in your plan when you approach your wife but also a little pitiful when she laughs at you.



I hope everyone is getting a good laugh at this and not using a calculator. This might be a really flawed idea.

Scott

Wine maker of the month, right here, folks.

It's all about enthusiasm!

I like your can do attitude, Scott.

 

[ChuckD]

Chuck ... convince your wife of this math: $10,000 basement renovation could pay for itself in wine savings. A $10,000 basement renovation could have bought 500 bottles of wine at $20 per bottle, however if you produce your own wine for $5 per bottle the cost is $2,500.00 for 500 bottles. You have saved $7,500.00 on 500 bottles of wine. How fast can you drink 500 bottles of wine? Drinking 4 bottles per week average you could drink 500 bottles in 29-30 months which might not be hard to do between your significant other and friends. I've been known to drink a bottle of raspberry or blackberry by myself.

Now I'm not to sure how accurate my math is because college was the hardest two months of my life. You will need to look confident in your plan when you approach your wife but also a little pitiful when she laughs at you.



I hope everyone is getting a good laugh at this and not using a calculator. This might be a really flawed idea.

Scott

I see no flaw in your plan, and typically my money saving ideas cost a lot more than that! . I like to say I can build almost anything myself and it will be nearly as functional and only cost twice as much!

We already talked about adding a commercial sink in the laundry room and she is all for it as a temporary measure. My whole goal is moving these functions out of the basement so I won’t be doing any major remodeling down there.

I did mention redesigning the pavilion to add a wine making room and she was all about that!

 

[Raptor99]

I see no flaw in your plan, and typically my money saving ideas cost a lot more than that! . I like to say I can build almost anything myself and it will be nearly as functional and only cost twice as much!

We already talked about adding a commercial sink in the laundry room and she is all for it as a temporary measure. My whole goal is moving these functions out of the basement so I won’t be doing any major remodeling down there.

I did mention redesigning the pavilion to add a wine making room and she was all about that!

You could tell your wife that the other hobby you are considering is fishing. If you go that route, you would need to buy a big boat!

 

[Shurt1073]

You could tell your wife that the other hobby you are considering is fishing. If you go that route, you would need to buy a big boat!

They claim the two happiest days of your life .... day you buy the boat and day you sell the boat!

 

[Raptor99]

You could tell your wife that the other hobby you are considering is fishing. If you go that route, you would need to buy a big boat!

I forgot to add that you would also need to buy a trailer to move the boat and a truck to pull the trailer. Then you would need a new garage in which to park the boat and the truck. Building a wine room is way cheaper!

 

[Ted Brumleve]

They claim the two happiest days of your life .... day you buy the boat and day you sell the boat!

I love my wine making area, want to add the double sink in the basement, and I love the boat. Guess that makes me double trouble.

 

[ChuckD]

@Raptor99
Too late. Fishing is basically tied with winemaking and just ahead of woodworking. I have a smaller boat… but I could use a bigger one

They claim the two happiest days of your life .... day you buy the boat and day you sell the boat!

That’s for those big cabin cruisers and sail boats. Particularly the wooden ones. I have a 14’ Al river boat and would never part with it.

 

[ChuckD]

I forgot to add that you would also need to buy a trailer to move the boat and a truck to pull the trailer. Then you would need a new garage in which to park the boat and the truck. Building a wine room is way cheaper!

So true. I’m on the Great Lakes so It’s nothing to see a boat and truck combo at some of my favorite landings that is $175,000 rolling… easy! And this is just a walleye rig.

 

[balatonwine]

LOL!!

Excellent. So true.

Now consider, I have to often do this outside, in the winter.... near freezing.

And my containers (up to 200 L) are a heck of a lot bigger!!!!

 

[Arne]

Your boat, a hole in the water you throw money into. Arne.

 

[balatonwine]

Your boat, a hole in the water you throw money into. Arne.

To become a millionaire, begin with a billion and start a winery.....

 

[Hokapsig]

LOL, that might be the old adage, but some of us on this site might disagree with that.

 

[justsipn]

Well, we recently moved into our dream home. When we looked at it last spring, it had a storm cellar under the front stoop that both of us instantly said when we got home …”that’s perfect for a wine cellar”. This winter it’s staying tight at about 50 degrees. Perfect for storing and aging. I’m guessing in the summer it will be around 60-65 degrees.

The storage room right outside that is at about 66 degrees so it’s working for fermentation. In the summer, I expect it to be slightly over 70 degrees.

And, I have a kitchen on that level to clean equipment.

So much better than our old house.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

I have a wine shed that I built for my home winemaking it’s perfect for my needs, I also put in a good air conditioning system and ventilation system so it stays cool during the warmer months and I can barrel age in the building. It cost me like $12,000 with all the labor and materials to put it in though I happened to know a professional carpenter to came over and designed it and put it together properly and the roof was done by another friend who is a professional roofer and my uncle did the wiring and lights and wall sockets and etc as he’s a professional electrical engineer.

 

[Ohio Bob]

How many cases of wine did it cost you?

 

[ChuckD]

We have decided to pull the trigger on our new wine room. For the low low price of $40,000 . Of course it comes with a master bedroom, full bath, and laundry room… but we all know why I’m really building it . It’s going to be a busy summer!

 

[Nebbiolo020]

How many cases of wine did it cost you?

My uncle took like 3 cases of wine lol

 

[Nebbiolo020]

We have decided to pull the trigger on our new wine room. For the low low price of $40,000 . Of course it comes with a master bedroom, full bath, and laundry room… but we all know why I’m really building it . It’s going to be a busy summer!

Damn that’s expensive

 

[ChuckD]

Damn that’s expensive

Apparently you haven’t built anything in a while! That’s mainly materials for a 24x28 addition. I’ll be doing all the work myself except for concrete , roofing, and heating system. If I was paying a contractor it would be double! I’ve put this off for two years because I refused to pay $40 for a sheet of plywood. Prices have come down some but to not what it was in 2019.